For millennia, the only option for diving was to free-dive. This often involved carrying a heavy stone and sinking to the bottom. Early diving was done to collect resources - be that sponges, fish, pearls, or sunken treasure. Diving bells were utilized as early as the 16th century, though they were very rudimentary, small and could not have their air supply replenished without returning to the surface. Still, even the earliest diving bell served to extend the amount of time one could spend underwater, which became paramount when it came to making use of the wealth of resources beneath the ocean’s surface.

The Early Diving exhibit includes a model of Tartaglia’s diving bell, as well as early diving goggles that would have been used.

Modern free-diving, or apnea diving, involves pushing the human body to the limits, with divers competing to see who can hold their breath the longest and dive the deepest on a single breath. The sport involves the use of wetsuits along with special fins designed to maximize energy efficiency. A trained free-diver can hold their breath for as long as 6 to 8 minutes.

This exhibit includes a wetsuit, specialized fins, and even a weighted sled that some free-divers use to descend faster. Many depth records have been set with the use of such sleds.

Following the era of simple breath-hold diving came humanity's attempts to remain underwater for longer periods of time using inventions such as those seen in this exhibit. From John Lethbrige's 1715 diving barrel to Klingert's 1797 copper suit, this exhibit showcases some of the most improbable of early diving machines.

One of the most notable is Edmund Halley's 1691 invention, the diving bell, which was used in many early salvage operations. He also invented the very first diving helmet, which was no more complex than a simple metal bucket with eye portholes which would attach to the main bell. Air was supplied to the helmet from the bell via a bellows pump, and a simple candle was fixed inside the bell as the only means of alerting divers when oxygen was running low.

For much of the early history of diving, equipment was restricted to those doing important work underwater. This included work on potable water systems, sewage, construction, and salvage. Workers needed hardy equipment to get the job done, and this exhibit showcases the evolution of such designs. A great diversity of diving helmets have been made over the years, with different shapes, sizes, materials and enhancements.

Commercial diving as an industry is essential to our way of life. Helmet diving is still used today for jobs such as underwater construction and maintenance of oil rigs. Some additional tools beyond helmets are also showcased in this exhibit, such as air pumps, maintenance tools, and even an underwater chainsaw.

Saturation divers using gear such as those in this exhibit have dove to depths as deep as 2,300 feet.

South Florida played an incredibly important role in the history of diving, giving rise to helmets that would help make the sport of diving both popular and accessible. Helmet diving was once the domain of those doing some sort of commercial or military work, but the Miller-Dunn Divinhood would help change that.

Over many years and three separate models of helmets, the Divinhoods would help many areas of diving flourish. These included marine biology, sport diving, and treasure hunting.

This exhibit showcases a diversity of underwater cameras and housings developed over the years. The history of underwater photography goes as far back as 1856, with the very first photographs taken beneath the waves. This exhibit teaches visitors about pioneering innovators, how the very first cameras worked without film, and where modern technology has taken the field today.

One notable artifact in the exhibit is a replica of the camera used by Louis Boutan, who would take the world’s very first underwater portraits and self-portraits.

This room showcases the many treasures collected during the career of one Art "Silver Bar" McKee, known as the father of modern treasure diving, and a legend in the Florida Keys. For many years, Art ran his own museum on Islamorada. He took people out to dive using his Miller-Dunn Divinhood helmet and allowed them to experience diving in a time before SCUBA was readily accessible.

The exhibit includes a real silver bar recovered from the wreck of the Atocha, which can be touched and lifted by guests. It also includes McKee’s actual Miller-Dunn model 3, his diving boots and knife, along with many treasures and cultural artifacts he salvaged during his lifetime. He was most famous for salvaging wrecks that were part of the 1733 Spanish treasure fleet, 13 ships of which were lost in a violent hurricane.

Known as one of the first marine biologists, this exhibit is dedicated to displaying William Beebe's lab aboard the Arcturus.

It includes a Model II Miller-Dunn in its original box, one of very few in the world. William Beebe would've used a helmet like this on his first dives, where he documented sea creatures in their natural habitats rather than as specimens, which was a new practice at the time.

Beebe would eventually make headlines and set diving records when he descended to over 3000 feet in the Bathysphere, an unpowered submersible designed by engineer Otis Barton. Together with illustrator Else Bostelmann, he would give the world the first depictions of live deep sea creatures such as the anglerfish.

We may not always think about how SCUBA diving might work for those who are differently abled. Diving as a ventilator-dependent quadriplegic became the dream of Matt Johnston, who helped to spearhead the first of its kind diving apparatus.

The exhibit includes a model of Matt's special dry suit that accommodates his breathing tubes, along with the diving guide he helped create. It showcases a Today Show special about his historic first dive, which took place in the Florida Keys.

While the Miller-Dunn helmets brought the world of diving to the common person, not everyone could afford to purchase a diving helmet for themselves. This was especially true during the Great Depression.
The September 1932 issue of Popular Mechanics published an article detailing how to make your own diving helmet, and the result was many people attempting just that.

Homemade Helmets showcases the limits of human ingenuity, including helmets made from fire hydrants, chamber pots and more. One helmet - the rum-runner - was crafted from a water heater and used to pick up Canadian "deliveries" of alcohol from the bottom of the Detroit River during Prohibition. It is the wide black helmet with a porthole located on the chest, used to look down without bending over and risking the helmet leaking.

This exhibit is a tribute to Jules Verne's novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. A milestone in literature, it helped bring the concept of diving into the public imagination in 1870.

Verne was inspired by a number of real life technologies to write his novel, including a submarine and early SCUBA equipment he saw on display at the World Fair. A working model of this early SCUBA is on display, along with a functional replica of Captain Nemo's helmet from the 1954 Disney film.

Verne was also aboard the ship used to lay the very first Trans-Atlantic cable, which allowed for telegram communication between Europe and North America. Previously, any message would need to cross the Atlantic on a ship. A piece of the cable lies above Captain Nemo's helmet.

In the era of helmet diving, nothing was more paramount than a good, reliable air supply. This exhibit showcases air pumps from across the ages, including a full diving dress and helmet used in the North Sea in the early 1900s. A "hookah" style pump hangs from the ceiling, dating from the 1950s or 60s. It would actually float on the surface while divers swam beneath, attached by hoses to the air supply.

It was once someone's whole job to remain at the surface and pump air to a diver below. As time went on, this process became more automated. Divers who are supplied via a hose have the benefit of virtually unlimited air, whereas SCUBA is limited to the air in the tank. Fields of diving which still use air supplied via a hose include modern commercial divers.

Parade of Nations is the centerpiece of the Museum, and showcases an incredible collection of diving helmets: one from every country that ever made one. The photo above is just a small section of it. Flags adorn the top of the display, for each country represented. The leftmost panel contains helmets from North and South America, with the center three showing those from European nations and the rightmost, above, showcases helmets from Russia, Asia, and Australia.

Some notable helmets include the Canadian "ice crusher" helmet, with a crown atop its head designed for breaking through ice after a long dive. The plexiglass Soviet helmet was used for cosmonauts training for space. An audio narrative detailing the origins of each helmet can be heard in the exhibit, narrated by the Museum’s founder, Dr. Joe Bauer.

Diving was an incredibly important field in the military, and continues to be to this day. The Mark V helmet, an iconic design that lasted over a century, was commonly used for salvage diving and construction. This exhibit shows how it evolved over time, from Mark I, II, III, and IV. The recovery of sunken vessels from Pearl Harbor, which utilized Mark V helmets, remains the largest salvage operation in military history, with over 20,000 hours of diving logged.

The grates of a standard Mark V diving helmet helped protect the diver's portholes from debris and wreckage in the often-murky and low visibility water in which they worked. A fully kitted military diving dress, including weights, boots, and helmet, would weigh between 150 and 200 lbs. This exhibit also contains a glove that belonged to Donna Tobias, the US Navy's first female deep sea diver.

Lights and communications were vitally important assets for divers. The addition of a communications unit to the Mark V diving helmet was a great advancement at the time, allowing the working diver to speak directly with those at the surface. At first, some military divers resisted this addition as they were concerned that talking would distract them while they were working.

The exhibit also contains many lights that would have been used by working divers to illuminate the abyss. A powerful light that would have been used on a light ship, a sort of mobile lighthouse, also sits in this exhibit. These were vitally important to ship navigation.

SCUBA stands for self-contained underwater breathing apparatus. The first scuba was created as far back as 1864, but it would not be popularized until the 1940s. There were a number of attempts over the years to create an efficient device that did not rely on a surface supply of air.

Scuba in its recognizable form would be invented in 1942, with Jacques Cousteau and Émile Gagnan unveiling their double-hose regulator, the AquaLung. By dropping the pressure from a tank to a breathable form through the stages of the regulator, the AquaLung revolutionized diving. With the advent of accessible scuba, the term “swim-diving” came into use, as it referred to diving that was done without needing to walk along the bottom in heavy gear.

Rebreathers evolved alongside scuba regulators. A rebreather is a closed system that recycles exhaled air and converts CO2 back into oxygen, allowing the air to be "rebreathed." Rebreathers are used by Navy SEALS as well as marine biologists who do not wish to disturb fish by creating bubbles

The Museum is home to a 50-gallon aquarium at the end of the SCUBA exhibit. It is home to a number of species of tropical reef fish and live coral, all of which are native to the Florida Keys. These include angelfish, parrotfish, and wrasse.

While beautiful to look at, many of the Florida Keys’ reefs are in peril due to climate change, pollution, and other environmental pressures. The exhibit tells visitors about the many local organizations working to restore the reef, and different methods they use to do this. Many restoration efforts involve diving and maintaining coral nurseries underwater.

Coral reefs play a critical role in marine ecosystems, as they provide habitats, food, and refuge for countless species of fish and invertebrates. The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary encompasses all of the Florida Keys and serves to protect them on a federal level.

This exhibit contains a number of Atmospheric Diving Suits, or ADSs. These are diving armors which protect the person inside from the perils of water pressure, maintaining surface pressure on the inside. There are many benefits to this method of diving, including eliminating the risk of decompression sickness and greatly extending the depth to which a person can travel. However, some drawbacks include a lack of flexibility. Diving armors must make use of claw-like arms to manipulate objects. Some, like the turret pictured in the center of the room, lack any sort of limbs at all, and must direct surface operations from their vantage point at the bottom. One of the most common jobs of diving armors was treasure salvage.

This exhibit also contains an ROV, an early, portable recompression chamber, and other deep-diving equipment.

The final exhibit in the History of Diving Museum is a featured exhibit that changes twice a year. For the first half of the year, from January to April, the exhibit features Dive into Art, which showcases creations from across the Florida Keys, made by both student and professional artists. Currently on display is Dive Into Art: Stories from Sea, which celebrates fantastic nautical tales from around the world. Past themes have included Beauty of Recycling, Art of the Abyss, FantaSea, Edge of the Sea, Coral Creations, and Fintastic Fish of Florida.

The second half of the year, from May to December, sees the exhibit change to something focused on diving history. These exhibits have included Underwater Habitats, Diving in Pop Culture, Sponge Hunters, Aquanauts to Astronauts, and Salvaging the Deep. This year, the Museum will explore the fascinating world of undersea medicine and hyperbaric chambers in Prescribed Pressure.

Visiting the Museum again over a span of years ensures you will always leave with something new!